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A Pair of Fournier-Marcadiers

1966 Fournier-Marcadier Barquette

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | June 23, 2013

André Marcadier built bicycles in France after World War II. In the early 1960s, he also began building go kart chassis and shortly thereafter met Colin Chapman. He liked what Lotus was doing in the U.K. and wanted something similar in France. So he teamed up with Marcel Fournier and, in 1963, launched France’s first kit car.

The FM 01 Barquette, as it was first called, was offered in kit form from 1963. The engine is from a Renault 8 Gordini – it’s a 1.1-liter straight-four tuned to make 89 horsepower that sits behind the driver and passenger. The car was supposed to be the sort of French kit version of the Lotus 23. In all, about 60 kits were sold through 1966.

This car should sell for between $32,000-$45,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $32,750.

1977 Fournier-Marcadier Barzoi 2

Offered by Osenat | Fontainebleau, France | June 23, 2013

Okay, so this isn’t the greatest picture in the world, but I can’t tell you the last time I saw one of these come up for sale. And you get the idea of how freakish this thing really looks from this photo.

The weird inset reverse-pop-up headlights are one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen – it’s like KITT’s nerdy kid brother. If you look at the panel in front of the lights, you’ll notice that it pops up and shield the lights when not in use, creating a slick aerodynamic front profile. The lot description describes it as “James Bond”-ish and I think that is apt. If I didn’t know any better, I could picture this thing as a submarine.

This was not a kit car, unlike the Barquette above. Well – not kits that consumers could put together anyway. The chassis is out from under a Simca 1000 Rallye (this one is from a ’73 model). The engine is also from the same car – it’s an 80 horsepower straight-four unit of 1.3-liters. It is also rear-engined.

The Barzoi 2 was the last road car Fournier-Marcadier built and only 50 were made. This is expected to bring between $20,700-$28,500. Click here for more info and here for more from Osenat.